Golden Cheers On Southern Brooklyn Ferry Service

The following is a press release from the offices of State Senator Marty Golden:

Brooklyn – State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-C-I, Brooklyn) has issued the following statement following the State of the Borough Address delivered by Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz last evening:

“As a long time advocate for waterborne transportation, I commend Borough President Marty Markowitz for announcing that among his priorities is that which seeks to bringing ferry service to Brooklyn. I am especially looking forward to working with him and the City to get the boats in the water from Manhattan to the 69th Street Pier and Sheepshead Bay.

I join my fellow Brooklyn residents in calling for ferry service for Kings County. As motorists are faced with an increase in gas prices and tolls, as well as traffic congestion, taking the waterways instead of the highways, will be more cost efficient and convenient. Brooklynites deserve the chance to have ferry service and I will continue to make the case for that in upcoming discussions.”

Senator Marty Golden, in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, worked with City officials and Community Board 10 to institute ferry service at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. The ferry service operated with periods of interruption from that time until July, 2010.

I still don’t get it. The ferry from sheepsheadbay or near by to Manhattan still takes long than the train. Why is this good alternative? Costs more and takes longer. I could understand subsidizing the costs but unless they used high power speed boats I rather take the train.

http://www.brucebrodinsky.com Bruce B

Like I posted earlier, I agree with you as far as coming from Manhattan. As i posted before, there was a ferry from Manhattan right to Lundy’s sometime in the 80’s. It took a long time, as you say, and almost nobody ended up using it near its end.

But what about using ferries to travel around the south of Brooklyn? From Bay Ridge to Coney to S. Bay, to maybe Riis Park/ Rockaway, Canarsie; someone suggested to Floyd Bennett field.

As someone who doesn’t have a car, I know it is extremely difficult to travel amongst these areas by public transportation. Maybe this is the best use of ferries.

I can’t believe that with all these rivers/oceans around us, that there’s no cost-effective way to introduce ferries into the mix.

http://twitter.com/Lostinservice Lostinservice

Bruce, come with me on a bike ride. I can probably find one you can borrow if you’d like. Maybe make a Sheepsheadbites bike ride out of it and get the readers to take a ride around. I think you’d find it as satisfying as a walk and that it makes south Brooklyn much more accessible, you can access most if not all areas south and east/west of Prospect park in under 25-30 minutes at a casual pace.

http://www.brucebrodinsky.com Bruce B

havent ridden a bike since my Schwinn in the 60’s!!!!! I’d be scared to ride in the streets to be honest. Too many darned fools (cars, bikes, AND pedestrians!).

Hey, do you know if the Belt Parkway path is clear from the Bay to Canarsie? I might brave it one day in the warm weather. That’s where one would have a chance of getting me on a bike! That’s a beautiful walk/ride, except the path over the bridges is frighteningly narrow, which is why i walk the streets to Canarsie when I go.

BrooklynBus

You supposed to walk your bike on those bridges. I did it a few times and was surprised how quick it was. Sometimes it took me longer to do it in traffic. But don’t go without a helmet.

http://www.brucebrodinsky.com Bruce B

Thx. I would never ride w/o a helmet, I don’t need my brain malfunctioning evenn more than currently.

guest

Your’re right ferries can serve some purpose just getting people around Brooklyn. But how many people really need to get from Sheepshead to Canarsie on a regular basis. If the ferry isn’t mostly for commuting to work then it probably wont work for other things.

I could see a private ferry, perhaps owned by Coney Island to get people to come. Or if people actually let Walmart build in Canarsie maybe they could pay for a ferry like Ikea did. But a pubic ferry for getting to Sheepshead, Rockaways/Bayridge/Canarsie/ just doesn’t make much sense, unless there’s and attraction drawing them there like Coney Island.

I do believe that Senator Golden has clinched it for me. If he’s for it, and Boro President Markowitz is a driving force behind it the idea has got to be worthy of total and complete dismissal. Both of them are excited by the prospect of wonderful things of little practical use.

Note to self: Buy toy trains for the two Martys on their birthday.

Anonymous

from a strictly personal reason i would love it…. think of the photos i could get!!!!

http://www.brucebrodinsky.com Bruce B

If I can quote the Honeymooners…. “The simp and the blimp”….

Eejlr38

Steve Barrison once had an excellent idea to elevate the Belt Parkway and have angle parking underneath, that was a great plan. Then there should be plenty of parking for what is left of the fishing fleet, and a ferry service. Think outside the BOX.

http://www.nedberke.com Ned Berke

Elevate which part of the Belt Parkway? I’ve only heard of such an idea from CB15 Chair Theresa Scavo, who proposed an express elevated section of the Belt Parkway from Ocean Pkwy to JFK.

“Motorways and bypasses generate traffic, that is, produce extra traffic,
partly by inducing people to travel who would not otherwise have done
so by making the new route more convenient than the old, partly by
people who go out of their direct route to enjoy the greater convenience
of the new road, and partly by people who use the towns bypassed
because they are more convenient for shopping and visits when through
traffic has been removed.”

The extra road wouldn’t address the problems of going to the airport by car either. One such problem is what to do with the car once you arrive. Middle class people (with access to cars) don’t leave their cars in long term parking, they ask their friends/family to drive them. Give them the option to travel quickly, cheaply, and conveniently without a car and they’d do it. Now you got less traffic on the belt in both directions and improved congestion on the same capacity as we do now.

If the goal is to get from Ocean Pkwy/SHB to the airport, an elevated AirTran over the belt would be more effective than an express road, and can be used by everyone not just car owners.

Perhaps an “AirTran” Ferry from SHB to JFK would be another alternative. People can take the train to SHB, and hop on a ferry to the airport. All the romanticism but with a more cost effective and practical trip than to Manhattan.

BrooklynBus

There are plenty of and cheaper ways to improve JFK access without involving the Belt Parkway. Reactivate the Bay Ridge LIRR line. You could either build an Airtrain type structure over Linden Blvd, or do it for much cheaper simply by making a connection to the LIRR in East New York. You would be able to transferto Airtrain at Jamaica. But in this administration, it is only the needs of Manhattanites that matter when it comes to system expansion capital improvements.

Eejlr38

Steve Barrison came up with elevating the Belt Parkway about 18 years ago, when there was a chance of making Sheepshead Bay a fishing village.

BrooklynBus

It sounds to me he was talking about the portion where the embankment is. The problem with that is that you would have to close that portion of the road for an extended period of time while construction is going on. Seems unnecessary to me. There is plenty of space for a multilevel garage if needed. The problem is that the parking would not be used by residents but by outsiders which is why Sheepshead Bay would probably be against it.